If you are an environmentalist or someone who cares deeply about the present-day climate issues, there’s a way for you to make a fair share of your contribution.
You can do that by opting for a kind of housing that helps the environment rather than damaging it.
At Avrame, we live by this philosophy and focus our efforts to engage in activities that don’t leave a huge carbon footprint behind.
We’re all for creating a sustainable future.
In this post, we talk about whether or not building prefab wooden houses can help the climate. Short answer:
Yes, it does… provided you do it right.
Let’s see how…
Prefab Wooden Houses Help The Planet
If you compare wooden housing to other kinds (concrete or any other), most of the stuff used for building the main structure and the exteriors is wood-based.
Let alone the fact that wood is a renewable material, there is another fact that greatly impacts the “green” balance in favor of wooden constructions…
Wood Locks the CO2
Trees need sunlight, CO2 from the air, and minerals from the soil for growing.
When you cut down a tree and turn it into construction lumber, all that CO2 is locked within the lumbers (along with the energy contained in the wood itself).
It’s not until you actually burn the wood, that the carbon dioxide gets released into the air (and the energy gets released in form of heat).
But, as long as you’re using it without any modification, nothing gets released back into the atmosphere. And so, no harm is done from a climatic point of view.
As long as you are building something out of wood (be it home or furniture), it’s a climatically safe practice.
Less Waste
Prefabricating wooden parts in a factory – with precise machinery – also reduces the amount of waste, by optimizing the cut of materials.
Less waste is not only good from an economic perspective but it is less harsh on the environment as we can actually save resources.
Moreover, less waste means fewer materials to dispose of, hence less energy to invest in getting rid of the waste.
Finally, when cutting materials at the factory we have fewer materials to transport… which results in less volume to move. Obviously, shipping less volume requires fewer containers/trucks and it translates into less energy consumption (using less fuel for moving the materials around, using fewer vehicles, using the roads less…).
Smaller energy bills
A truly energy-efficient home does not demand a lot of energy when it comes to heating or cooling.
Using less energy to heat the house or to get hot water, means you end up using releasing less CO2 in the atmosphere (and spending less).
That’s clearly a climatically healthy practice/option.
Incredibly low maintenance
People tend to overlook this, but every little maintenance work releases CO2 into the atmosphere.
Every home maintenance project you undertake means there will be some transportation to move materials from one place to another, not to speak about the use of the materials themselves.
We are talking about fuel and industrial processes that your house needs to stay pretty and in good working conditions…
A-frame wooden houses don’t really call for much maintenance throughout their lifetime.
Translation?
You end-up using less labor, less transportation, less fuel, less materials and eventually less CO2 (without counting the money you save).
Pro Tip: if you truly care for the environment, always choose to build a house using renewable material and pick a solution that uses fewer utilities and demands the least possible amount of maintenance throughout its lifecycle. Not only is this good for the climate, but it’s also a way more budget-friendly option in the long run.
Why did Avrame choose to make A-Frame houses?
There are a bunch of reasons why we went with A-frame.
One of the major ones is… it’s very low-maintenance.
Most of the exterior surface is metal roofing that doesn’t require any paintwork, maintenance or even cleaning.
In fact, given the steep angle of the roof, the rainwater itself will take care of the cleaning it every time the weather goes bad.
On top of that, the roofing that comes with Avrame A-frame structures carries a 25-years of aesthetical guarantee and a 50-years of structural guarantee… so you won’t have to touch it for a VERY long time!
In A-frame houses, the only thing that’s going to demand painting and maintenance work is the gable ends (the front and the back walls of the house) and, to a minor extent, the roof eaves and overhangs.
It really requires a small amount of work, material, energy, compared to other types of houses.
In Conclusion
Everything we use, whether it’s the fuel for heating and cooling or the maintenance works or the materials themselves, comes from nature and ends-up going back into nature.
Everything we take out of the ground or we move around increases our carbon footprint.
The less ‘stuff’ we use, the better it is for the environment and the present-day climate issues.
We do have to build houses to have a normal life but building wooden houses has less impact on the environment.
Building prefabricated houses reduces the impact further as we can save materials and avoid waste of resources and energy.
Finally, building A-frame homes will take this to another level cause it will reduce the running energy needs and it will require less maintenance.
This is one of the reasons why we make A-frames and we stick with it. It goes nicely with that ‘minimalistic’ approach essential for a sustainable and green future.
We put a lot of effort into making incredibly energy-efficient and eco-friendly homes.
Now the choice is yours… you can either take advantage of that or go build yourself a concrete mansion in a traditional way.